About decision research

Research activities

What is decision research?

Decision research focuses on the way individuals, groups and organisations make decisions. It involves perspectives that are:

Descriptive – why and how decisions are made the way they are

Normative – how decisions should be made in some ideal sense

Prescriptive – how can decision making be made more effective.

It is concerned with how people make judgments and take decisions, particularly in situations involving risk and uncertainty. The research has provided important insights into how and why people do what they do, why they make mistakes that can lead to poor outcomes for themselves and their organisations, and how we can use this knowledge to help them do it better.

Theories and findings from decision research have been applied extensively in such areas as political science, finance, marketing, health, medicine, management and the law. These applications have provided important insights into how decisions are taken in these areas, some of the errors and mistakes made by people, including experts, and how to improve these decisions.

Understanding and improving decisions through behavioural decision research